Wall Street gains for seventh day, despite Apple

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 surged through 1,500 on its seventh day of gains, underpinned by positive economic news, even as Apple shares slid nearly 11 percent following a revenue miss.

Apple Inc missed Wall Street's revenue forecast for a third straight quarter as iPhone sales were poorer than expected, fanning fears its dominance of consumer electronics is slipping. The shares dropped 10.9 percent to $457.94, wiping out about $50 billion of its market value.

Positive economic reports helped reverse the market's earlier declines. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to a five-year low, and factory activity in January neared a two-year high. It was the first time the S&P 500 had risen above 1,500 since December 12, 2007.

The domestic data chimed with those overseas showing growth in Chinese manufacturing accelerated to a two-year high this month and a buoyant Germany took the euro zone economy a step closer to recovery.

With signs the economy is improving, some investors are lauding the strength of the stock market as it shrugs off a significant slide in shares of Apple, the world's biggest company.

"The market has disconnected itself with Apple," said Jack de Gan, chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. "I think it shows great strength in the overall S&P."

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 76.46 points, or 0.55 percent, to 13,855.79. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 5.52 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,500.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 7.67 points, or 0.24 percent, to 3,146.00.

Apple's disappointing results drew a round of price-target cuts from brokerages. At least 14 brokerages, including Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, cut their price target on the stock by $142 on average. Morgan Stanley removed the stock from its 'best ideas' list.

Netflix Inc surprised Wall Street Wednesday with a quarterly profit after the video subscription service added nearly 4 million customers in the U.S. and abroad. Shares jumped nearly 40 percent.

Diversified U.S. manufacturer 3M Co reported a 3.9 percent rise in profit, meeting expectations, on solid growth in sales of its wide array of products, which range from Post-It notes to films used in television screens. The shares shed 0.6 percent.

Corporate earnings have helped drive the recent stock market rally. Thomson Reuters data through early Thursday showed that of the 133 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings, 66.9 percent have exceeded expectations, above the 65 percent average over the past four quarters.

Investors in U.S.-based mutual funds pumped $9.32 billion into stock funds in the week ended January 16, the second consecutive week of inflows for such funds, data from the Investment Company Institute showed Wednesday.

Removing an element of political uncertainty from markets, the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a Republican plan to allow the federal government to keep borrowing money through mid-May, clearing it for fast enactment after the top Senate Democrat and White House endorsed it.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Read More..

Samsung’s iPad mini rival, the Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet, revealed in leaked images

While Samsung (005930) has had tremendous success over the past year with its Galaxy brand of smartphones, the company hasn’t been able to generated the same amount of buzz for its Galaxy tablet line just yet. But now SamMobile points us to the first leaked pictures of Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 8.0 that the company hopes will become its flagship tablet in 2013. The pictures, posted on Italian website DDAY, show an 8-inch white tablet that looks like a large Galaxy S III and features thicker side bezels than Apple’s (AAPL) recently released iPad mini. The pictures also show off the new tablet display’s 16:10 aspect ratio with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, which packs more pixels per inch than the iPad mini display and its 1,024 x 768 resolution. We’ll get our first official glimpse of the Galaxy Note 8.0 when Samsung shows it off at Mobile World Congress next month.

[More from BGR: The ultimate humiliation: Dell now getting advice from the ‘Dell Dude’ on how to fix company]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Michelle Kwan Shed 'So Many Tears' on Wedding Day

01/23/2013 at 10:15 AM EST

Michelle Kwan and Clay Pell

Courtesy of Caitlin Maloney

As Michelle Kwan, dressed in a cascading veil and a classic ivory gown, walked down the aisle on Jan. 19, the figure skater was filled with the emotion of a bride on her wedding day.

"The whole energy came from family and friends," she says of the ceremony in Providence, R.I. "People were crying. There were so many tears shed, especially from me!"

Her new husband, White House staffer and Coast Guard Lieutenant Clay Pell, was also swept up in the moment. "As she was walking into the church, I could feel her," he tells PEOPLE. "I could feel this energy, this sense of grace and movement and comfort to me the whole time. This contentedness, whether we were holding hands, or hugging, or kissing – she has such warmth for me and I just felt this fire the whole day, and I still do."

Although not everything at the First Unitarian Church went as planned, the couple improvised. "The Christ candle didn't light because the wick had gone down," Kwan says. "We had both of our candles and everyone was staring at us, and we're like, 'It's not lighting!' So Clay took one of the matches and stuck it on there, we lit the match, and everyone started clapping. It turned out perfect."

After the couple walked through an arch of sabers formed by Pell's friends in the Coast Guard, they led guests in lighting sparklers before entering the Hope Club for dinner and dancing.

Olympic champion figure skater Brian Boitano, 49, spoke at the reception. "It was hard because I couldn't look at her too much because I get kind of emotional," Boitano tells PEOPLE. "It's like a little sister growing up. My brotherly instincts are on the high end for her! I think she's incredibly loyal and she is truly filled with so much grace on and off the ice."

Kwan, 32, and Pell, 31, who got engaged in September, chose "We've Only Just Begun" for their first dance. Kwan's sister Karen, 34, "tried to choreograph it," Pell says, "but we went off-script a little bit."

"We were having the time of our lives," Kwan says. "We were supposed to twirl but where the button goes to bustle my dress, it ripped off, but Clay loves to dance."

Turning to Pell, Kwan adds, "You danced like no one was watching, or people were watching but you didn't care because you were having the time of your life. I love that!"

For more on Kwan's wedding, including photos and all the details – from the dress to the decor – pick up a copy of next week's PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday

Read More..

Foes of NYC soda size limit doubt racial fairness

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents of the city's limit on the size of sugary drinks are raising questions of racial fairness alongside other complaints as the novel restriction faces a court test.

The NAACP's New York state branch and the Hispanic Federation have joined beverage makers and sellers in trying to stop the rule from taking effect March 12. With a hearing set Wednesday, critics are attacking what they call an inconsistent and undemocratic regulation, while city officials and health experts defend it as a pioneering and proper move to fight obesity.

The issue is complex for the minority advocates, especially given obesity rates that are higher than average among blacks and Hispanics, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control. The groups say in court papers they're concerned about the discrepancy, but the soda rule will unduly harm minority businesses and "freedom of choice in low-income communities."

The latest in a line of healthy-eating initiatives during Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration, the beverage rule bars restaurants and many other eateries from selling high-sugar drinks in cups or containers bigger than 16 ounces. Violations could bring $200 fines; the city doesn't plan to start imposing those until June.

The city Board of Health OK'd the measure in September. Officials cited the city's rising obesity rate — about 24 percent of adults, up from 18 percent in 2002 — and pointed to studies linking sugary drinks to weight gain. Care for obesity-related illnesses costs more than $4.7 billion a year citywide, with government programs paying about 60 percent of that, according to city Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley.

"It would be irresponsible for (the health board) not to act in the face of an epidemic of this proportion," the city says in court papers. The National Association of Local Boards of Health and several public health scholars have backed the city's position in filings of their own.

Opponents portray the regulation as government nagging that turns sugary drinks into a scapegoat when many factors are at play in the nation's growing girth.

The American Beverage Association and other groups, including movie theater owners and Korean grocers, sued. They argue that the first-of-its-kind restriction should have gone before the elected City Council instead of being approved by the Bloomberg-appointed health board.

Five City Council members echo that view in a court filing, saying the Council is "the proper forum for balancing the city's myriad interests in matters of public health." The Bloomberg administration counters that the health board, made up of doctors and other health professionals, has the "specialized expertise" needed to make the call on limiting cola sizes.

The suit also argues the rule is too narrow to be fair. Alcohol, unsweetened juice and milk-based drinks are excluded, as are supermarkets and many convenience stores — including 7-Eleven, home of the Big Gulp — that aren't subject to city health regulations.

The NAACP and the Hispanic Federation, a network of 100 northeastern groups, say minority-owned delis and corner stores will end up at a disadvantage compared to grocery chains.

"This sweeping regulation will no doubt burden and disproportionally impact minority-owned businesses at a time when these businesses can least afford it," they said in court papers. They say the city should focus instead on increasing physical education in schools.

During Bloomberg's 11-year tenure, the city also has made chain restaurants post calorie counts on their menus and barred artificial trans fats in french fries and other restaurant food.

In general, state and local governments have considerable authority to enact laws intended to protect people's health and safety, but it remains to be seen how a court will view a portion-size restriction, said Neal Fortin, director, Institute for Food Laws and Regulations at Michigan State University.

___

Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

Read More..

IBM's outlook lifts Dow, Nasdaq amid tech rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged higher on Wednesday as IBM and other tech companies continued a trend of results that beat Wall Street's expectations and propelled the market to a five-day advance.

Internet search company Google Inc added to the advance, rising 5.1 percent to $738.65 a day after Google reported its core business outpaced expectations. Revenue was also higher than expected.

International Business Machines Corp late Tuesday forecast better-than-anticipated 2013 results and also posted fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations. The results helped to allay concerns about the tech sector after Intel Corp gave a weak outlook last week. IBM, the world's largest technology services company, rose 3.8 percent to $203.57.

"Tech companies are really shattering expectations, which is obviously helping markets. There doesn't seem to be an end to this rally," said Todd Schoenberger, managing partner at LandColt Capital in New York.

But gains were limited in the S&P 500 a day after it closed at a level not seen since December 2007. Many investors were also holding off to see earnings from Apple Inc , the most valuable U.S. company which was due to report after the market closes.

McDonald's edged higher 0.2 percent to $93.11 after reporting a rise in fourth-quarter earnings, lifted by an increase in same-store sales. United Tech's earnings fell from the prior year, hurt by large restructuring charges. Shares edged up at $87.91.

On the downside, Coach Inc slumped 15 percent to $51.40 as the S&P's biggest percentage loser after reporting sales that missed expectations.

After the market closes, investors will scour Apple's results for signs the tech giant can continue to grow at an accelerated pace. The stock has been pressured recently by questions raised about demand for Apple's prospects. The stock has fallen 5 percent since the start of the year, compared with gains of 4.6 percent in the S&P 500. It rose 0.4 percent to $507.04 on Wednesday.

"If Apple comes out with a blockbuster number, that would reinforce the argument that stocks are poised to do well in the first part of 2013," Schoenberger said.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 55.48 points, or 0.40 percent, at 13,767.69. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 0.06 points, or 0.00 percent, at 1,492.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 10.89 points, or 0.35 percent, at 3,154.06.

Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average hit five-year closing highs on Tuesday, with recent gains largely fueled by a strong start to the earning season.

According to the latest Thomson Reuters data, of the 74 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far, 62.2 percent have topped expectations, roughly even with the 62 percent average since 1994, but below the 65 percent average over the past four quarters.

Overall, S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings rose 2.6 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. That estimate is above the 1.9 percent forecast from the start of earnings season, but well below the 9.9 percent fourth-quarter earnings forecast from October 1, the data showed.

Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives aim on Wednesday to pass a bill to extend the U.S. debt limit by nearly four months, to May 19. The White House welcomed the move, saying it would remove uncertainty about the issue.

The debt limit issue has hung over the market for weeks, with many investors worried that if no deal is reached to raise the limit, it could have a negative impact on the economy.

(Editing by W Simon and Kenneth Barry)

Read More..

Cameron promises Britons straight choice on EU exit

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron promised on Wednesday to give Britons a referendum choice on whether to stay in the European Union or leave if he wins an election in 2015, placing a question mark over Britain's membership for years.

Cameron ended months of speculation by announcing in a speech the plan for a vote sometime between 2015 and the end of 2017, shrugging off warnings that this could imperil Britain's economic prospects and alienate its biggest trading partner.

He said the island nation, which joined the EU's precursor European Economic Community 40 years ago, did not want to retreat from the world, but public disillusionment with the EU was at "an all-time high".

"It is time for the British people to have their say. It is time for us to settle this question about Britain and Europe," Cameron said. His Conservative party will campaign for the 2015 election promising to renegotiate Britain's EU membership.

"When we have negotiated that new settlement, we will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or out choice to stay in the European Union on these new terms; or come out altogether. It will be an in-out referendum."

The speech firmly ties Cameron to an issue that was the bane of a generation of Conservative leaders. In the past, he has avoided partisan fights over Europe, the undoing of the last two Conservative prime ministers, John Major and Margaret Thatcher.

Britain would seek to claw back powers from Brussels, he said, a proposal that will be difficult to sell to other European countries. London will do an "audit" to determine which powers Brussels has that should be delegated to member states.

Sterling fell to its lowest in nearly five months against the dollar on Wednesday as Cameron was speaking.

The response from EU partners was predictably frosty. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius quipped: "If Britain wants to leave Europe we will roll out the red carpet for you," echoing Cameron himself, who once used the same words to invite rich Frenchmen alienated by high taxes to move to Britain.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said his country wanted Britain to remain a full EU member, but London could not expect to pick and choose the aspects of membership it liked.

Business leaders have warned that the prospect of years of doubt over Britain's EU membership would damage the investment climate.

"Having a referendum creates more uncertainty and we don't need that," Martin Sorrell, chief executive of advertising giant WPP, told the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"This is a political decision. This is not an economic decision. This isn't good news. You added another reason why people will postpone investment decisions."

The speech also opens a rift with Cameron's junior coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats. Their leader, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, said the plan would undermine a fragile economic recovery.

And even allies further afield are wary: the United States has said it wants Britain to remain inside the EU with "a strong voice".

EUROSCEPTICS THRILLED

Cameron has been pushed into taking such a strong position in part by the rise of the UK Independence Party, which favors complete withdrawal from the EU and has climbed to third in opinion polls, mainly at the expense of the Conservatives.

"All he's trying to do is to kick the can down the road and to try and get UKIP off his back," said UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

Eurosceptics in Cameron's party were thrilled by the speech. Conservative lawmaker Peter Bone called it "a terrific victory" that would unify 98 percent of the party. "He's the first prime minister to say he wants to bring back powers from Brussels," Bone told Reuters. "It's pretty powerful stuff".

Whether Cameron will ever hold the referendum remains as uncertain as the Conservatives' chances of winning the next election in 2015.

They trail the opposition Labour party in opinion polls, and the coalition government is grappling with a stagnating economy as it pushes through public spending cuts to reduce Britain's large budget deficit.

Cameron said he would prefer Britain, the world's sixth biggest economy, to remain inside the 27-nation EU. As long as he secured the reforms he wants, he would campaign for Britain to stay inside the EU "with all my heart and soul".

But he also made clear he believed the EU must be radically reformed. It was riskier to maintain the status quo than to change, he said.

"The biggest danger to the European Union comes not from those who advocate change, but from those who denounce new thinking as heresy," he said.

"WAFER THIN" CONSENT

The euro zone debt crisis was forcing the bloc to change, and Britain would fight to make sure new rules were fair to countries that didn't use the common currency, he said. Britain is the largest of the 10 EU members that do not use the euro.

Democratic consent for the EU in Britain was now "wafer thin", he said, reflecting the results of opinion polls that show a slim majority would vote to leave the bloc.

"Some people say that to point this out is irresponsible, creates uncertainty for business and puts a question mark over Britain's place in the European Union," said Cameron. "But the question mark is already there: ignoring it won't make it go away."

Asked after the speech whether other EU countries would agree to renegotiate Britain's membership, Cameron said he was an optimist and that there was "every chance of success."

"I want to be the prime minister who confronts and gets the right answer for Britain on these kind of issues," he said.

It is nearly 40 years since British voters last had a say in a referendum on Britain's membership of the European club. A 1975 vote saw just over 67 percent opt to stay inside with nearly 33 percent wanting to leave.

(Additional reporting by Paul Taylor in Davos and Alexandra Hudson in Berlin; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Peter Graff)

Read More..

Google Earnings Reveal Beginnings of a Facebook Problem on Search Revenue

Google beat Wall Street expectations with its fourth-quarter revenues of $ 14.42 billion, but the value of its ads continue to decline, an especially tricky problem with the company’s new search competition from Facebook. Google’s average cost-per-click decreased 6 percent from one year ago, meaning each ad it runs on its biggest business has less value than it did a year ago, continuing a fairly troubling trend for the search giant. It still managed to keep up its paid clicks by getting more and more people to use Google.

RELATED: Google Is Trying to Fix Its Targeted Ad Attitude Problem

Google has managed to offset the decline in click value with that kind of growth for almost a year now, but Facebook’s new Graph Search has the potential to offer users more personalized social-search results — and that could mean higher value for the ads next to them. How much longer can Google can maintain its delicate balance by sheer market power remains to be seen. The company is trying desperately to change its fate with a push for more Google+ integration, which would put advertisers closer to more personal Googling. But so far that hasn’t worked, if the earnings report is any indication. Google’s bet on volume will surely face a test from Facebook’s gamble on the future of social search, no matter what the rival CEOs are saying.

Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Google Earnings Reveal Beginnings of a Facebook Problem on Search Revenue
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/google-earnings-reveal-beginnings-of-a-facebook-problem-on-search-revenue/
Link To Post : Google Earnings Reveal Beginnings of a Facebook Problem on Search Revenue
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

Adrienne Maloof Steps Out with Sean Stewart

TV Watch
Buzz

By Tim Nudd

01/22/2013 at 10:00 AM EST

Adrienne Maloof and Sean Stewart

Splash News Online

After her bitter divorce battle, Adrienne Maloof is apparently getting back into the dating scene with a little help from rock royalty two decades her junior.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 51, has been getting close with Sean Stewart, 32, son of the legendary British rocker Rod Stewart.

"Adrienne is enjoying dating," a source close to Maloof tells PEOPLE.

The pair were spotted kissing as they left the Crustacean restaurant in Beverly Hills on Saturday. Maloof later told TMZ.com of their age difference: "Age is just a number."

She added: "It's about how good of a person you are. ... [Sean] is a very funny guy. He's very giving, he mentors at the mission, works with at-risk children, and gives his time and money to get children off the streets."

Stewart has had his share of bumps in the road, too. He appeared on season 2 of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew after battling substance abuse.

The Stewart men have a thing for older women. Rod's first big hit, back in 1971, was "Maggie May," which told the autobiographical story of a young man involved with an older woman.

• Reporting by RAHA LEWIS

Read More..

Flu season fuels debate over paid sick time laws

NEW YORK (AP) — Sniffling, groggy and afraid she had caught the flu, Diana Zavala dragged herself in to work anyway for a day she felt she couldn't afford to miss.

A school speech therapist who works as an independent contractor, she doesn't have paid sick days. So the mother of two reported to work and hoped for the best — and was aching, shivering and coughing by the end of the day. She stayed home the next day, then loaded up on medicine and returned to work.

"It's a balancing act" between physical health and financial well-being, she said.

An unusually early and vigorous flu season is drawing attention to a cause that has scored victories but also hit roadblocks in recent years: mandatory paid sick leave for a third of civilian workers — more than 40 million people — who don't have it.

Supporters and opponents are particularly watching New York City, where lawmakers are weighing a sick leave proposal amid a competitive mayoral race.

Pointing to a flu outbreak that the governor has called a public health emergency, dozens of doctors, nurses, lawmakers and activists — some in surgical masks — rallied Friday on the City Hall steps to call for passage of the measure, which has awaited a City Council vote for nearly three years. Two likely mayoral contenders have also pressed the point.

The flu spike is making people more aware of the argument for sick pay, said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work, which promotes paid sick time initiatives around the country. "There's people who say, 'OK, I get it — you don't want your server coughing on your food,'" she said.

Advocates have cast paid sick time as both a workforce issue akin to parental leave and "living wage" laws, and a public health priority.

But to some business owners, paid sick leave is an impractical and unfair burden for small operations. Critics also say the timing is bad, given the choppy economy and the hardships inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.

Michael Sinensky, an owner of seven bars and restaurants around the city, was against the sick time proposal before Sandy. And after the storm shut down four of his restaurants for days or weeks, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that his insurers have yet to pay, "we're in survival mode."

"We're at the point, right now, where we cannot afford additional social initiatives," said Sinensky, whose roughly 500 employees switch shifts if they can't work, an arrangement that some restaurateurs say benefits workers because paid sick time wouldn't include tips.

Employees without sick days are more likely to go to work with a contagious illness, send an ill child to school or day care and use hospital emergency rooms for care, according to a 2010 survey by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that a lack of sick time helped spread 5 million cases of flu-like illness during the 2009 swine flu outbreak.

To be sure, many employees entitled to sick time go to work ill anyway, out of dedication or at least a desire to project it. But the work-through-it ethic is shifting somewhat amid growing awareness about spreading sickness.

"Right now, where companies' incentives lie is butting right up against this concern over people coming into the workplace, infecting others and bringing productivity of a whole company down," said John A. Challenger, CEO of employer consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Paid sick day requirements are often popular in polls, but only four places have them: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the state of Connecticut. The specific provisions vary.

Milwaukee voters approved a sick time requirement in 2008, but the state Legislature passed a law blocking it. Philadelphia's mayor vetoed a sick leave measure in 2011; lawmakers have since instituted a sick time requirement for businesses with city contracts. Voters rejected a paid sick day measure in Denver in 2011.

In New York, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer's proposal would require up to five paid sick days a year at businesses with at least five employees. It wouldn't include independent contractors, such as Zavala, who supports the idea nonetheless.

The idea boasts such supporters as feminist Gloria Steinem and "Sex and the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, as well as a majority of City Council members and a coalition of unions, women's groups and public health advocates. But it also faces influential opponents, including business groups, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has virtually complete control over what matters come to a vote.

Quinn, who is expected to run for mayor, said she considers paid sick leave a worthy goal but doesn't think it would be wise to implement it in a sluggish economy. Two of her likely opponents, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, have reiterated calls for paid sick leave in light of the flu season.

While the debate plays out, Emilio Palaguachi is recovering from the flu and looking for a job. The father of four was abruptly fired without explanation earlier this month from his job at a deli after taking a day off to go to a doctor, he said. His former employer couldn't be reached by telephone.

"I needed work," Palaguachi said after Friday's City Hall rally, but "I needed to see the doctor because I'm sick."

___

Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

Read More..

Wall Street flat near five-year highs, Travelers rallies

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed near five-year highs on Tuesday as investors held back from making large bets ahead of earnings from key tech companies.

Both the Dow and S&P 500 closed at their highest levels so far in this earnings season, with the gains largely coming on better-than-expected results. But despite bullish statements from major companies, many investors are worried economic uncertainty in the fourth quarter hurt earnings and revenues.

Weaker-than-expected economic data had little impact on stocks. Existing-home sales unexpectedly fell in December, dropping 1 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors. Analysts were looking for a rise of 1.2 percent.

Recently Apple Inc and Intel Corp gave weak outlooks, calling the tech sector' outlook into question. Three tech companies are due to report after the market's close: Google Inc, International Business Machines and Texas Instruments.

"Markets are quiet today with many investors taking a wait-and-see approach to tonight's tech earnings," said Douglas DePietro, managing director at Evercore Partners in New York. "There's still room for us to rise from here, but right now most of the action is in specific stocks."

Four Dow components reported early on Tuesday, and three rose on the results. Insurer Travelers Cos was the stand-out, climbing 3.4 percent to $78.90 as the S&P 500's biggest percentage gainer after it forecast higher premiums across its business.

DuPont, the largest U.S. chemical company by market capitalization, reported revenue that was ahead of Wall Street expectations, while Verizon Communications Inc also posted revenue that beat forecasts.

Shares of DuPont were up 0.6 percent at $47.24 while Verizon rose 0.3 percent to $42.67.

On the downside, Johnson & Johnson, the diversified health company, fell 0.5 percent to $72.87 after forecasting 2013 earnings below expectations.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 6.07 points, or 0.04 percent, at 13,643.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 1.56 points, or 0.10 percent, at 1,484.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 2.52 points, or 0.08 percent, at 3,132.19.

Monday was a market holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the United States. President Barack Obama at his inauguration for a second term on Monday called for aggressive action on climate change, economic equality and the federal budget.

Markets have recently been pressured by uncertainty stemming from Washington about the federal debt limit and spending cuts that could hamper U.S. growth.

Republican leaders in the House of Representatives said they aim to pass on Wednesday a nearly four-month extension of the U.S. debt limit, allowing the government to borrow enough to meet its obligations during that period.

Overall, S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings rose 2.5 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

U.S. shares of Research in Motion jumped 8.2 percent to $17.13 a day after its chief executive said the company may consider strategic alliances with other companies after the launch of devices powered by RIM's new BlackBerry 10 operating system.

(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Kenneth Barry)

Read More..